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The media's marathon meltdown

The fast-moving news out of Boston on Wednesday snared some of the most respected reporters and news outlets in the country into offering false or conflicting information about whether a suspect had been arrested — leaving CNN and the Associated Press, among others, scrambling to clean up their reports as the day went on.

The flood of conflicting reports, confusion, and subsequent criticism reminded some of June 28, 2012, when many media outlets — most notably CNN — incorrectly reported the Supreme Court’s Obamacare ruling.

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Now as then, many of the nation’s most trusted, established media organizations raced to broadcast breaking news, only to find themselves eating their words minutes later. Now as then, those who resisted the temptations of getting the story first were rewarded with getting the story right. And now as then, the media’s failures were widely mocked across social media.

As in June, no single news outlet on Wednesday bore more criticism than CNN (the network that describes itself as “the most trusted name in news”) and no single news outlet received greater priase for its restraint than NBC News — a fact that matters greatly not just to the reporters responsible (CNN’s John King and NBC’s Pete Williams) but to the executives in New York, who understand that the integrities of their respective brands are at stake.

When the dust settled, CNN released a statement defending its initial report of an arrest in the bombings: “CNN had three credible sources on both local and federal levels. Based on this information we reported our findings. As soon as our sources came to us with new information we adjusted our reporting.” (As in June 2012, Fox News did not respond to a request for comment.)

This was not the same as the apology the network had issued after the Supreme Court ruling, and it earned them more criticism on Twitter: “[The] problem with CNN, FNC saying sources led them astray: NBC News was RIGHT all day,” Bill Carter, who covers the television industry for the New York Times, wrote on Twitter. “Good sources WERE available.”

The media’s coverage had been in conflict from the beginning, even before CNN and NBC’s reports. At 1:42 p.m., the Associated Press, citing a law enforcement official, reported that an arrest was “imminent” and that the suspect would be brought to court. One minute later, Reuters, citing a government source, reported that investigators did not yet have the name of a suspect and made no mention of an arrest.

Then, at 1:45 p.m., CNN’s King - who had earlier broken the news the a suspect had been identified on video - went on air and said that “an arrest has been made.” King cited two sources: a local law enforcement source he had spoken with, and another unnamed source who had spoken with his colleague Fran Townsend, former President Bush’s terrorism advisor. Not long after, Fox News and The Boston Globe were issuing similar reports. CBS Boston, citing a law enforcement official, reported that an arrest had been made, but then quickly pulled that report from its website.